In cataract surgery, there has been widely performed removal of opacified lenses by phacoemulsification (PEA) followed by implantation of intraocular lenses into aphakic eyes. Intraocular lenses are classified into hard intraocular lenses whose optics are made of a hard material such as PMMA and soft intraocular lenses whose optics are made of a flexible material such as silicone elastomer or soft acrylic. Upon use of a hard intraocular lens, the lens needs to be inserted through an incision having been cut in a cornea or sclera in a width approximately the same as the diameter of the optic of the lens. On the other hand, by folding the optic of a soft intraocular lens, the lens can be inserted through an incision smaller than the diameter of the optic. In order to reduce the risk of post-surgery corneal astigmatism or infection, insertion of a lens through a small incision is preferable. Consequently, soft intraocular lenses tend to be preferred. In addition, dedicated injectors having a mechanism to lead a lens to an eye through a slender tube are used in some cases in order to insert lenses into eyes. By using such injectors dedicated to intraocular lens insertion, a lens can be inserted through an incision smaller than 3 mm.
Recently, in order to eliminate the possibility of microbial contamination and operational mishandling at the time of dealing with lenses, preset injectors having lenses preset therein have been available on the market. Some of such preset injectors have a lens holding mechanism and a lens moving mechanism. The lens holding mechanism holds a lens inside of an injector in a state of non-stress on the optic of the lens so that the lens can be changed from a stationary state at the time of shipment to an operable state upon use. The lens moving mechanism moves the lens to a position where the lens can be moved by a push-out mechanism (see Patent Documents 1 and 2, for example).    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) Publication No. 2003-325570    Patent Document 2: JP-A No. 2003-325572